


a dance with death

by wickedforgood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 03:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21349681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedforgood/pseuds/wickedforgood
Summary: Harry Potter is not foolish. He's been prepared to die for far longer than he's realized.or, harry prepares to die. his thoughts are not pretty.(also i know it's on the shorter side, but please give my fic a chance! it's not as bad as the word count makes it seem)
Kudos: 9





	a dance with death

**Author's Note:**

> i took a break from writing my OC fanfiction Accio in order to create this bad boy, but i have got to say, i'm pretty proud of it. i know it's on the shorter side, but please give it a chance and read it! it's not as bad as the word count makes it seem. enjoy!

Harry Potter is not foolish. He knows he is marching to his death. He clutches the resurrection stone tightly in his hand before dropping it to the ground, leaving it behind, continuing towards certain death. The forest seems almost haunting now. Maybe that was because of what was to come. Maybe not. With trees looming over him and creatures running about, it was no mystery why this forest was supposed to be forbidden. But he hadn’t been scared of the forest in a long time. Maybe that’s for the best. 

It’s almost funny, he thinks to himself. He’d come full circle. Voldemort had tried to kill him as a baby and failed, and now, Voldemort would attempt to kill him again, but this time there would be no sacrifice to protect him. No one to die for him. 

Just him and a bright green light. 

He knows what is coming. 

He trudges onward, a sickly feeling coming over him. He should have known this was coming. One can only outrun death for so long. And hadn’t he been doing just that? 

As a first year, trapped with nothing but a stone and a madman for company. He had nearly died attempting to reach the stone and nearly died once he had. Task upon task that had nearly killed him; he can’t look at Wizard’s Chess in the same way anymore, can’t play without remembering Ron being struck down, sacrificing himself in order to win the game. Some days, he can’t get the image of accidentally killing Quirrel out of his head, his hands burning holes into the professor’s skin. He shakes the memory away, continuing his walk.

But then, there was his second year, when he nearly died at the hands of a basilisk, and third year when Lupin’s wolf form nearly killed him and his friends, and the graveyard.

He still has nightmares about the graveyard. 

Wormtail holding Harry down and drawing blood. Voldemort’s return. His spell clashing with Voldemort’s, red and green light meeting in the middle. Seeing his parents. 

Cedric. 

Cedric falling to his death, eyes glazed open, the aftermath of a spell that caused a quick and painless death. Cedric, who never should have been there. Cedric, who died for no reason. 

Just another casualty in a war Harry had been raised to win. Just another casualty.

Harry shakes the thoughts from his head. He needs to be calm. He needs to keep going. 

And yet, Harry thinks of Sirius, who died to protect Harry, saved Harry from his own stupidity. Harry thinks of Sirius fading into the veil and smiles softly. He will die, and then he will join them. And though he is not glad to leave his friends behind, the thought of meeting his parents in the afterlife is nice.

Harry remembers fifth year, stuck in the dark. His friends, Dumbledore, and the Order all refusing to give him answers. He wonders if he is doing the same to them by going to the forest alone, telling no one of his plans. He wonders if he is setting them up for the same feeling of neverending questions with no answers. He is doing just that, he knows. 

Harry has spent the past year camping out, running from Death Eaters, on an endless hunt for Horcruxes. He has seen so much death.

Harry stumbles. 

He wonders if Dumbledore knew he was setting Harry up for a lifetime of close calls, a lifetime of being so close to death that he no longer fears it. He wonders if Dumbledore knew he would have nightmares about everyone dying and yet him surviving, the guilt tugging at him night and day. He wonders if this was his destiny, dying by Voldemort’s hand the way the man had tried so many times. He wonders if Dumbledore had planned for him to die. But then, he knows the answer to that.

He has seen so much death. 

He has come so close to death, again and again.

He’s been prepared for this for far longer than he’s realized.

Harry regains his footing. He marches onward. 

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone is interested in working with me as a beta reader (or beta reader buddies) or would be willing to help me learn how ao3 works (especially tags bc i keep under-tagging my works but idk what to tag) that would be awesome!


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